[Prefrontal clinical symptoms in daily living: screening assessment by means of the short Prefrontal Symptoms Inventory (PSI-20)].

Introduction: Estimation of daily symptoms of frontal dysfunction is considered to be essential in order to endow neuro-psychological assessments with ecological validity. The questionnaires available today were constructed to estimate executive problems in daily life in populations with neurological damage. There is a need for instruments focused on measuring these behaviours in the general population or in clinical populations with mild or moderate impairment.

Aim: To examine the factorial validity and to find evidence of concurrent validity of the short version of the Prefrontal Symptoms Inventory.

Subjects And Methods: Three samples were obtained: the first, from the Internet (n = 504); the second, in a non-clinical population by means of paper and pencil (n = 1,257); and the third, from patients being treated for substance addiction (n = 602). A factorial analysis without restraints was used on the first sample and the results were submitted to confirmatory factorial analysis on the other two samples.

Results: The three-factor structure that was found was confirmed with excellent indicators of fit in the other two samples. Evidence of concurrent validity was found with quality of life and mental health tests.

Conclusions: We propose a short questionnaire for detecting failures of a prefrontal origin in daily living, which improves on the psychometric qualities of similar tests, but is oriented towards severe neurological pathologies. The structural stability of the test ensures it can be used in the general population, for the early detection of cognitive impairment, and in clinical populations with mild or moderate deterioration. A set of criteria are proposed for use in interpreting the results.